(S2) - PT #1 - Pre Season Hype

[TheWoZy]

[WinstonKodogo]

It will come with little surprise to anyone that the game that I am looking forward to the most in preseason is against my old team mates in the Baltimore Hawks.

I want to remind them of what they are missing out on when they see me take to the pitch and score field goals and punt the ball a mile. My main aim is to show them that they really messed up trading me away for an eight round pick, which I have to admit was a real kick in the guts. I thought I was worth more to them than that.

Our week three trip to Baltimore's stadium will be a strange experience for me. It will be incredibly bizarre to stand on that pitch at the opposite end of guys I used to train with and muck about with and be in front of fans who treated me well in my time there in a different colour jersey hoping to bring them misery instead of joy.

It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction I will receive when I first step on the field to take my first kick or when the stadium announcer introduces me to crowd.

[ckroyal92]

[Shadowz]

The player I'm most looking forward to matching up against this preseason is Bubba Nuck. Nuck was an absolute force out of the backfield last season, rushing for 1217 yards on a great average of 4.4 yards per carry. Godfrey King wants to be able to prove himself as a top defensive prospect for the S3 draft, and what better way to do that than being able to stop one of the league's premier offensive players. King additionally wants to be able to prove to the team he's with this season, the Arizona Outlaws, that the pickup was a good choice, and that King can turn in some quality snaps. Hopefully this playing time with the defending champions will give King the experience he needs to stop such players as Nuck, thereby (hopefully) infinitely increasing his draft stock. Having to study and implement the Outlaw's defense will certainly be a steep learning curve for King, but he hopes to work with his teammates in proving themselves as the best defensive corps in the league. As far as teams King is looking to face, he really has no preference. Experience against all sorts of schemes and players is what will benefit King, and therefore he can't wait to match up against them.

[Yurt6]

For Clifford Rove, as soon as he gets picked up by a team he'll have his sights set on Darnell Turner. Clifford knows he's not going to start out of the gate, so his sights are set a little differently. In an interview with a local Michigan news station, Rove said this:

"I just want to prove that I'm the best young player out there. Even though I probably won't get too many reps in my first couple years, every down I play I want to show the league that I'm going to be here to stay. For me playing against Darnell Turner, who is a guy that always does whats asked and more of him, and is an absolute beast in coverage, would be a great example of that. It'd be a true battle, one that hopefully I could come out on top of. It would be tough, Darnell is a tough competitor, but I know that I have it in me to go against his incredible coverage."

Turner had not replied at the time of this writing, however over here we are sure it would be a battle for the ages.

Although unsigned at this point, Rove seems to have confidence that wherever he goes in the draft this year, he will make an impact.

(217 Words)

[Kcobb9]

Young gun rookie Kyle Cobb has made it to the big leagues, so he's not afraid of much, but he has his calendar marked on one team. Not just one specific person, but the entire Yellowknife Wraiths defense. With the likes of cornerback Dermott Lavelle, this year's number one overall draft selection, line backer Kevin Cushing, and Defensive Tackle Bork Bjornsson, the wraith's defense is potent. As a runningback, Cobb is used to finding holes in the defensive line, but Bjornsson can stuff those holes like no other. At 6 foot 5, 360 pounds, the Iceland native is a nightmare for opposing offenses, let alone runningbacks. Kyle looks forward to hopefully dodging that strong line. Behind them is one of Yellowknife's core defensive pieces. Rookie linebacker Kevin Cushing. The 6 foot 2, 240 pound player isn't the key to the linebacking corps, but he's got the special ability of being a great pass coverage man. As a receiving running back, Kyle Cobb looks to make a fool of him and force Cushing to stick to run coverage like a normal linebacker. After all that, still stands possibly the best player on the wraith's defense, Dermott Lavelle. Yellowknife traded up to number one overall to take this guy, and there's no question why. The 6 foot, 200 pound cornerback sounds small, but he's scary. As a man to man corner, he's got the wheels to stay with the fastest of them, and his hands are no joke either. He'll cover anyone who dares to step into his zone, and he'll take advantage of all of them. Kyle Cobb would like to be the exception to that, and run through the entire Yellowknife defense, and show off why he deserves his spot on the field.

[dave]

Too say that I'm excited to go against any single player would be incorrect. I'm excited to go against an entire line of players. The Los Vegas Legion have been making waves since their inception, trading away picks for high value all stars and letting the league know that they were the best expansion team out there. Too bad talk doesn't mean anything out on the football field. The one thing that I want to do more than anything else is to put up monster numbers on the legion. Their line consisting of players such as Crocker, Cox, Ramiro, and Bullard won't know what hit them after this game. Although the Liberty have been the quieter team out of the two since the expansions were announced, I believe that they have built the superior team and I can't wait to prove it. Not only do I want to prove it to the Legion, I want all my haters to know who's in charge. I've heard too much talk that I won't have another good year because my o-line isn't as good as it was when I was on the Otters. They out here saying that the Otters o-line made me the running back that I am now. I've got news for them, it isn't an o-line that makes me THE fastest running back in the league, thats all talent and hard work. Both the Legion's d-line and my haters are going to see what's real after this preseason game, I've got the "Wright" stuff baby.

[Rich]

Heading in to preseason, I have a several players I’ll be interested match up with. I spent season 1 matching up against teams’ #2 receiver. Carter was typically matched up against the top guy. I had a good amount of success in this role. I don’t expect it will change much this season. That said, I do hope I get to line up across from the top guys in the league at least a few times. The challenge of covering guys like Stormblessed or Garden is one of my favorite parts of playing in this league. Garden is probably the guy I’m most interested in. He gets a lot of attention, and with his level of talent, he should. I think I’m one of the few corners in the league that matches up well with him in terms of speed and quickness. I didn’t get to see much of him last season, I spent most of my time covering LeClair when we played Yellowknife. Most of the time I did well in that matchup, but I always wondered how I would do shadowing Garden all game long. Garden is a tough assignment for anyone, so I’d really like to take on the challenge, and see how I do.

[RavensFanFromOntario]

The Las Vegas Legion, newly formed team based in the AFSC (aka the real conference) have dominated most of the discussion this off-season. Rumors have circulated about the team, players getting "overpaid" others disagreeing with management, players getting drunk or high or dog fighting with Michael Vick's compatriots. Well it's true, all of it, but that's besides the point. I can't tell you who, I, personally am most excited to be facing but it seems the fans want to see the Legion smash the Philadelphia Taco Bell Supreme Liberty. The game sold out in an NSFL record 16 seconds with the vast majority (87%) of ticket sales originating in Nevada. The loud mouth rookie team out of the city of Brotherly Love "yeah, exactly." has been talking trash about being able to beat the upstart team in the desert. While GM Tyler Varga gambled heavily on the team plying a win-now mindset and acquiring elite talents who weren't properly utilized in their previous systems and put together a team of talent and personality, something lacking among NSFL squads these days. Most of all, as a middle linebacker, I want to bring down Jameis Christ, and let him know the true Messiah of the league doesn't play for a shitty squad that can't get a logo that isn't made in paint.

[Deusolis]

In football like no other sports, players serve at the mercy of the scheduling gods. One ill-timed match-up is enough to derail a season and a soft stretch of games can propel a team to a title. If the S2 pre-season did nothing else, it proved that those gods are cruelly active in the affairs of men. AC Hackett was hoping against hope that the SaberCats pre-season slate would include games against the Legion, so he could play against former Cats RB Ardie Savea or the Otters, to face-off against a group of offensive linemen who can most affectionately be described as brash. Unfortunately, no such luck, as the SaberCats were matched up against the Outlaws, Wraiths and the Liberty twice, games apparently devoid of any special significance.

Alas, the Lord works in mysterious ways. As it turns out, the Wraiths and Liberty feature two of the most natural foils for Hackett in the league: linebackers Kevin Cushing @kckolbe and Luke Washington @Den_Tex_Mix2. The two are intellectual standouts (intelligent runners-up, but I digress) in a league dominated by run-jump athletes. Just seeing them play represents an opportunity for improvement, watching them make reads and seeing various technical tricks-of-the-trade. Of course, in that spirit, playing against the Outlaws vaunted linebacking corps (@`YoloSwag420`, @Valtookan and @youngcricket) will present a chance for Hackett to measure himself against the league's best.

Looking back, perhaps the pre-season schedule was a blessing after all.

Code:

Wordcount: 242